Down in a raw basement near Hamburg‘s Berliner Tor station, Willi Prange and his partner Phillip Clarke opened the mostly gay oriented club Front in 1983. The majority of nights at Front were not played by guests, but by the main resident DJs Klaus Stockhausen and his successor Boris Dlugosch, who steered the club through the most cutting edge music the disco aftermath had to offer, until it eventually became one of the first clubs in Continental Europe to embrace house music and the styles that followed suit. The club’s intense nights were built on a wildly hedonistic and loyal crowd, a fierce quadrophonic sound system, a secluded DJ booth that seemed to antagonize the cult of personality of the years to come, and thus created a legacy that lasted well beyond the club’s closure in 1997. We asked Boris Dlugosch to guide us through the sound of the pivotal years of Front.
Shirley Lites – Heat You Up (West End, 1983)
This was one of my first lasting musical impressions at the club. Klaus Stockhausen played it nearly every Saturday then. It was more of an after hours record and it fitted perfectly.
Syncbeat – Music (Streetwave, 1984)
Klaus played this record when it came out, and when I started as a DJ in 1986 it had a small revival because I rediscovered it for myself. It was one of the most formative records for me. I did not know until then what this record was. I found it by chance in the club’s own record inventory. I loved this track very much and one day I could get a hold of it in a grab bag at Hamburg’s Tractor store for import records, where I was working at the time. Those bags were sealed and contained 10 records. I actually flicked through several other bags until I had two copies of it.
Connie – Funky Little Beat (Sunnyview, 1985)
This kind of Electro was the sound of Front from 1983 to 1984. I was not going to other clubs much, I was still too young and could not get in, but I heard this record on old tapes recorded live at the club (https://hearthis.at/front/). When I started going to Front from 1985 on this sound slowly faded away and was replaced by early house music.
Harlequin Four’s – Set it Off (Jus Born, 1985)
For me this was a quintessential Freestyle and Electro record. Klaus Stockhausen used to play it mostly as a break, often mixed with „Operattack“ by Grace Jones, or with space effects records. This and the Grace Jones album were milestones for my musical socialisation and they always worked on the floor.
Adonis – No Way Back (Trax, 1986)
This record and Farley Jackmaster Funk’s „Love Can’t Turn Around“ came out in 1986, shortly before I started playing at the club myself. At Front club changes in pace and style were elementary and the according setting was sometimes prepared over the course of hours, and sometimes just introduced by a quick break. House music brought along a different structure, and there was a steady beat for hours. At that time this was the defining new feature of the genre. Music was mixed seamlessly throughout the night at Front in all the years before, but with house music the rhythm became more homogeneous.
Another mixtape that recorded for an official release, then did not happen. We even had an artwork! Ok, they probably just did not like hip house, and did not want to tell me. As if it would be a problem to tell that to anybody. I, of course, love it.
Artwork by Michael Kummermehr
K. Alexi Shelby And MCD-TA – Dig This King Sun – On The Club Tip Subsonic Two Vs. Nightmares On Wax – Addicted To Music Chubb Rock – Ya Bad Chubbs Precious – Definition Of A Track L.B. Bad – I Like To Move Doug Lazy – Let It Roll T.D.P. – Ladies Let’s Go Tuff Crew – What You Don’t Know Too Nice – I Git Minze Laurent X – It’s Magic
DJ Mink – Hey Hey Can U Relate Unique 3 – Weight For The Bass KC Flightt – Planet E White Knight – Keep It Movin’ Mix N Tel – Feel The Beat Shut Up And Dance – This Town Needs A Sheriff Fast Eddie – Hip House This I’D Jazz – Good To Go Separate Minds – We Need Somebody K.A. Posse – Shake S-B-M & MC Tunes – Back To Attack
Mix for the fine All City label from Dublin. For no particular reason I decided to contribute a mix with Hip House instrumentals.
Doug Lazy – Let It Roll – (Dub Version) Reg Raw – I’m Housin’ (Pump It Go Dub) Lord KCB – I’m Housin’ It (Dub Version) Royal Party – Can You Party (Instrumental Dub) Long Fellow – This Is Penis (Instr.) Brooklyn Funk Essentials – Change The Track (Brooklyn Bomb Dub) Faheem – Must Be The Music Dub Laurent X – It’s Magic (Funkstrumental) Too Nice – I Git Minze (Extended Dub Mix) Kraze – The Party (Tunnel Mix) Cool House – Rock This Party Right (Tyree’s Beats 4 Now Mix) Mix ‘n’ Tel – Feel The Beat (Instrumental Mix) Fast Eddie – Yo Yo Get Funky (Woo Yea!) Fast Eddie – Yo Yo Get Funky (Use To Hearin’) Rashiid – I Go To Work (Supermix) Mix Masters Feat. MC Action – It’s About Time (Tyree Cooper Mix) Tyree Feat. J.M.D. – Move Your Body (Tyree Lost His Vocals Mix) Tyree – Turn Up The Bass (Instrumental) Tyree – House Music Is My Life (Instrumental Mix) Precious – In Motion (Dub Dub-Rob Hanning Mix) Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock – Get On The Dance Floor (The Surgical Sky King Dub) KC Flightt – Jump For Joy (Underground Dub) Doug Lazy – H.O.U.S.E. (Red Zone Mix) 2 In A Room – Do What You Want (Morales Slammin’ Dub Mix) Fast Eddie – Make Some Noise (Joe Smooth’s Club Instrumental Mix) Maurice – This Is Acid (Deep Dub)
> Backroom Productions – Definition Of A Track ( New York Underground Records) 1988
A rare tune from 1987. Indeed nothing but a track.
I knew this from the vinyl edition of the DJ-Kicks by Terranova. At that time it fit right in with what they were trying to represent with that compilation. I used to play this track regularly back then, it was very good for warming up.
So you actually know this for quite some time then.
Yeah, of course! I was not into Terranova that much, but the compilation had some brilliant tracks on it. East Flatbush Project and such.
This has some kind of Hip Hop vibe to it, too. But it does not exactly sound like 1988.
No, and I didn’t know that (laughs).
Would you still play it?
Definitely. I don’t know when and for what occasion but it is a class track.
It somehow reminds me of the bonus beats they used to have on the flipside of old House records.
Yeah, but bonus beats have gone out of fashion a bit, apart from Hip Hop. Argy had some for that Sydenham track “Ebian” on Ibadan last year. But I think it is not really relevant anymore for the current generation of House producers.
The percussive elements really distinguish the sound of that era from today’s productions. Lots of handclaps, or here it’s rimshots.
My problem is that I don’t really like all these percussion sounds from drum machines. I prefer sampled real instruments. This is probably some classic Roland drum machine, like a 606. I would take the bassdrum and hi-hats from somewhere else. The toms of these old machines are always cool, but the bongo sounds for example are not for me. I wouldn’t use that for my productions. I couldn’t do these 100 % authentic references. I think it’s supercool to listen to in a Prosumer record for example, but I couldn’t do that.
You got qualms about doing something like that?
No (laughs)! I’m just working on a new track for which I sampled an old Amen-break. I don’t care, if I like it I use it. This kind of break is in 90 % of all Drum and Bass tracks and nobody cares, so I don’t care either.
> Phortune – Unity (Jack Trax) 1988
This is an old track by DJ Pierre, from his Acid House days. But it is different to most tracks he produced back then. It is pretty deep.
It’s great. Awesome vibe for 1988, I could listen to this all day. It doesn’t tranquilize my feet, it’s not boring, it’s perfectly right. And I would grin from ear to ear if I would hear this in a club.
Some of its sounds have aged really well.
I really like this. I think it’s a pity that there are not so many tracks with great basslines at the moment. There are a lot of simple, functional basslines without much of a melody. Of course it’s effective and some current tracks need some of these dominating, functional elements, but a track like this for example needs a bit more, and I miss that. It’s also simple, but it has more and different harmonies. I like that, it gets me hooked. I would love to buy this on Beatport (laughs)!
The Druffalo rave saga continues. This time round the Druffalo Hit Squad travels back to the New York City of the early 90′s, when labels like Nu Groove, Strictly Rhythm and many more dropped several bombs each week on the city’s manic floors, and the according sound was a sample-heavy and stylistically irresponsible mixture of roots in Disco, Hip Hop, Freestyle and clues from worldwide House and Techno proceedings. An overdose of signals both deep and kicking, and a decidedly street approach to structure the madness.
At that time you could even dance to that, whenever and wherever you wanted to.
We sure did, and still do.
How about you?
The Sound Vandals – Extasy (Nu Groove) Full Moon – Allelujh (Dope Slap) Jam To It Again – Aquarius (City Limits) Brooklyn Funk Essentials – Change The Track (Minimal) Bobby Konders – Let There Be House (Nu Groove) Intellectual Harmonious Sanction – Save The Whales (R&S) Mental Mayhem – Joey’s Riot (Atmosphere) The Untouchables – Trippin’ (Strictly Rhythm) Direct – Techno Gone Mad (R&S) Project 86 – Industrial Bass (Nu Groove) Sound Factory – Cuban Gigolo (Capitol) Jovonn – Back To House (Goldtone) Static – The Native Track (Strictly Rhythm) House Syndicate – Jam The Mace (Dopewax) The Dope Wax Allstars – Angelo’s Groove (Dopewax) 33 1/3 Queen – Searchin’ (Nu Groove) Gypsymen – Bounce (E Legal) Foremost Poets – Reasons To Be Dismal (Nu Groove) Metro – Straphanger (Nu Groove) Open House Feat. Pace – Seven Day Weekend (Nu Groove) Arthur Baker And The Backbeat Disciples – Silly Games (A&M) KC Flightt – Planet E (RCA) Earth People – Reach Up To Mars (Underworld) J. Of Barcelona – Red Light District (Rey-D) Landlord – I Like It (Bigshot) A Bitch Called Johanna – I’m A Bitch (Project X) Ooscha – Ich Will Dich (Quark)
Ich gebe zu, Hip House war nicht gerade ein Ausbund an lyrischer Tiefe, doch wenigstens seine Partytauglichkeit ist absolut zu Unrecht in Verleugnung geraten. Bei dieser Platte jedoch passierte eine verblüffende Harmonie von Wumms und Hirn. KC Flightt, der Hip House-New Jersey-Repräsentant, nimmt die Perspektive des Besuchers aus dem Weltraum ein, der seine bissigen Beobachtungen der weißen („Group A“) und schwarzen („Group B“) menschlichen Spezies im urbanen Lebensraum in sein Logbuch notiert. Das erinnert an „Cities“ von den Talking Heads, doch es ist deren „Once In A Lifetime“ das hier als Sample über eine Acidline sinniert, die brummt wie eine Motte im Wandschrank, die über Nacht auf dreißigfache Größe mutiert ist. David Byrne hatte im Videoclip einen Gastauftritt. „And who got the pay? Well, eventually Group A.”
Synthie-Disco hat ja eine lange Tradition in den Beneluxstaaten und der Megamix ebenso. Wenn die Erben von Telex und Ben Liebrand sich dann mittels DJ-Software ans Werk machen, kommt daher wohl unweigerlich etwas heraus wie diese Mix-Compilation, der umfassende Mash Up-Rundumschlag, das Feuerwerk der guten Laune. Auf der ersten CD von Starski & Tonic gehen in etwa Früh-House-Klassiker von Tyree, Risse oder KC Flightt mit Booka Shade, Les Rhythmes Digitales und Oliver Koletzki Hand in Hand, mit ein bisschen Disco von Chilly und Moroder obendrauf, immer tüchtig draufgehalten. Stark angetrunken kann das dein Main Floor sein. Die zweite CD von TLP geht dann runter auf ein bisschen jiggy Hop, Pop und Disco. Zwischen Luniz, Stretch, Terence Trent D’Arby, Diana Ross und Michael Sembello geht alles. Stark angetrunken kann das deine Betriebsfeier sein.
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